Physical Combat
by Avalon.Roxy
Summary: REPOST Things at the Regional Science Fair heat up when a rival from last year's Regional Science Fair acts on a grudge he's had against Billy.


**"Physic"- al Combat**

_Note: Don't own MMPR_

"Everyone, may I have your attention please?" Mr. Caplan said as he was standing at the podium at the front of the gym. He waited until it was quiet so that he could announce the results of the judges' voting for the school Science Fair. "The judges have finished tabulating all their points, and I'm now ready to announce the results." Everyone in the gym waited with baited breath. Today they'd find out who would get First Place and go on to participate in the Regional Science Fair. "The Third Place ribbon goes to... Ranvir Khanghera!" Mr. Caplan announced. There were a few cheers at the back of the gym as Ranvir walked up to accept the Third Place white ribbon. "Second Place goes to... Maria Pitcher!" Mr. Caplan continued. More cheers broke out. Maria looked really excited as she bounded up to the podium to accept the Second Place red ribbon. Finally, Mr. Caplan pulled out the ballot with the name of the person who would receive First Place and go on to compete in the Regional Science Fair. "And finally, the person who wins the First Place ribbon, and who will be representing our school at the Regional Science Fair is...William Cranston!" Mr. Caplan announced, and didn't look too surprised. Sarah, who was with Billy, gave him a hug before he walked up to the podium to receive the coveted First Place blue ribbon. He exchanged high fives with Jason, Zack and Tommy as he went up to front of the gym.

"Uh, well, uh, what can I say, except that this is a great, honour, being able to represent our school for the second time." Billy said, referring to the time he won First Place in Grade 10, and got to participate in the Regional Science Fair. From there, those selected in the various Regional competitions move up to the State Level, and finally there, the National Level, which is very prestigious. Last Year, Billy also won First Place in the Regional competition, and little did he know, someone from that competition held a grudge against him for that. And that someone, was Cliff Harrison.

Cliff Harrison, a Grade 12 Student at Lakewood High in LA, was very much like Billy except for one thing. He was smart, but he liked to remind people of it, giving him a sort of, superiority complex. Many people saw him as stuck-up, and a snob. Up until the Regional Science Fair back when he was in Grade 11, he always assumed before then, that there was no one else smarter than him. But, that was before he got chosen second in the Regional competition, and Billy's science project was awarded first, meaning that Billy would go on to compete in the State competition, possibly the National competition that year, and not Cliff. For when Cliff got chosen for First Place at the State level, and competed in the National Competition the year before that, he also got First Place there too. However it was not to be, the year that Billy won. This made Cliff very resentful towards Billy. He hated it when someone else beat him, especially someone in a lower grade, and spent the whole year plotting his revenge. But first, he had to awarded First Place at his school's Science Fair, which is exactly what happened. Cliff once again, would go on to compete at the Regional Level.

That night, Cliff was at his computer and with his extensive knowledge of computer technology, he hacked into Angel Grove High's system, to see who won First Place there, and smiled evilly when he saw Billy's name. This time he's not going to beat me, Cliff thought.

"I'm so glad you won." Sarah told Billy later that night while she was visiting him at his house. "I've always thought your inventions are very clever and innovative."

"Thanks" Billy smiled, blushing a bit. "I just hope this one is good enough this year for the Regional competition." His smile soured a little.

"Why do you say that?"

"Last year, I only made it to the State Level. I'd really like to compete at the National Level this year."

"Yeah, that would be so cool." Sarah added. "But, what went wrong last year? Didn't you make it to the National Competition?"

"No, because on the last day of the judging, my project wouldn't work. I managed to fix the problem, but not before it brought down the number of points given to me." Billy explained.

"Oh. So what rank did you get then?"

"Second Place".

"That's not to bad." Sarah replied.

On the first of the Regional Science Fair, Sarah and Jason helped Billy with transporting his project over to the Angel Grove Youth Center, where the competition was being held. They helped him get everything set up on his table, and Billy tacked up his charts with all his notes and diagrams. "So how long is the Science Fair?" Jason asked.

"Two days. The first day and the afternoon of the second are for the judging, and then the evening of the second day is when the public gets to see the projects and also the judges' results are announced." Billy explained.

"Cool." Jason said, then looked down at his watch. "Aw crap. Man, I gotta blaze. I promised Tommy and Kim I'd help them with something, and I'm running late."

"Yeah, I gotta run too." Sarah added, giving Billy a kiss good-bye. "I'll see you tomorrow baby."

"Sure thing!" Billy called, and waved as Sarah and Jason left. While Billy was looking everything over, making sure it was all in order, another person approached him.

"William Cranston?" Billy turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Cliff Harrison. Remember me?"

"Oh, from last year. You won second place."

"And you got first. How'd you do at the State competition last year?" Cliff asked.

"I didn't make to the Nationals if that's what you mean." Billy replied. "But I came in second though."

"Eh, that's not so bad. That's a rather cool project you got there. Did you see mine yet?"

"No. But I'll see if I can have a look when I leave."

"Alright then. Cool." Cliff said, and turned to leave.

"Hey Cliff?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck." Billy told him. "May the best person win."

"I plan to." Cliff said, smiling evilly, then he left. Billy looked perplexed. What did he mean by that? He thought.

The next day before the judging began, Cliff arrived at the Youth Center early. He wanted to scale the place. Cliff walked all around, making notes as he went. It turned out he was drawing a rough sketch of the Youth Center's floor plan. But what he had in mind were no plans for a future degree in drafting. Cliff checked his watch. 12:00, it read. Shit, I'm gonna be late! He thought, and rushed back into the Gym & Juice Bar, where the Science Fair was being held. Across from where he was, he could see the judges standing over at Billy's table, looking at his project, and smiling as Billy gave them a flawless demonstration of how it worked. "After I'm through, you won't be smiling anymore." Cliff muttered in their direction.

That night, while most people would be asleep, a shadowy figure crept across the parking lot of the Youth Center and hid in the bushes underneath the window for Ernie's office. After laying low for a few seconds, he rose up and started picking at the lock. A couple minutes passed before he got the window open. No alarms went off, as the Youth Center was in an area with a low occurrence for crime. But it did have a video surveillance system, which this intruder didn't know about. The hooded figure walked through Ernie's office and out into the hall. As he was doing so, he pulled off his hood. It was Cliff Harrison. He pulled out a piece of paper and on it was the final draft of the floor plan. Cliff followed the path he traced from Ernie's office to the back door for the Juice Bar. Picking the lock, he got the door open and was able to get in. Cliff then simply hopped over the counter, and was now in the empty gym. Empty, except for all the tables which had everybody's science projects on them. With his flashlight, Cliff looked for which table had Billy's project on it, simply by reading who's name it was pasted on each table. Finally, he found Billy's project. Perfect, Cliff thought. He pulled the bag he had been carrying off his shoulder and set in on the floor. Opening it up, he pulled out what he had been carrying, a long steel crowbar, which he was going to use to smash Billy's project. Cliff swung the crowbar repeatedly, as hard as he could until there was sufficient damage done to the project. He then took the posters with Billy's diagrams and notes down and tore them up, simply scattering the pieces. Satisfied with his work, Cliff put away his crowbar, slung the bag back over his shoulder and surveyed the wreckage. He noticed the where some pieces that were still useful for his project, and after picking them up, he left. This time, out the main doors.

In the afternoon the next day, Billy arrived at the Youth Center, along with Sarah for the second and final judging day. They came early so that Billy could check on his project before the judging started. Just as they came through the main doors, Ernie approached them, frantic. "Oh man! I tried to phone you guys, but there was no answer."

"Why? What's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Someone was in here last night. I figured that out because the window to my office wasn't locked, and I know that I definitly locked it before I went home. Billy, someone smashed up your science project last night." Ernie told him.

"WHAT?" Billy gasped.

"You're kidding right?" Sarah asked, almost simultaniously. They followed Ernie into the gym. There, in plain sight, was the mess that was left of Billy's project.

"I'm sorry Billy." Ernie said. "I'll be in my office. Maybe the security cameras caught something. I'll be looking over the tapes." He then left, leaving Billy and Sarah alone to examine the mess. Sarah shook her head, Billy struggled to hold back the tears. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Billy, I-"

"When I find out who did this to me, I'm gonna beat the crap out of them!" Billy growled. "I'll never win the competition now!"

"Couldn't you re-build your project, or enter in a replacement?" Sarah asked.

"I can't. The damage is too extensive, and I can't enter a replacement either. Today's the last day for judging. The project is due today."

"Well, Ernie is going through the tapes from last night. Let's just hope that the cameras caught whoever did this to you."

"I hope so." They finished collecting all the broken pieces and the ripped papers, then tossed everything in the trash.

Later that afternoon was the judging. When one of the judges came to Billy's table, nothing was there. He told this to the head judge, Carl Ballard, who then went to find the Science Fair Co-Ordinator, Mr. Parsons. There he found Billy, who was already talking withMr.Parsonsabout what happened. "Well, I must say this is rather disturbing news, as we've never had anything like this happen before. Oh, "Mr. Paronsturned and saw the head judge approaching. "Mr. Ballard, Billy was just telling me that someone smashed his project last night."

"My God, that's terrible." Mr. Ballard was shocked to hear this.

"Yes it is. We are investigating this matter, along with help from Ernest Herndon, who's looking at the security tapes. Billy meanwhile, has chosen to bow out of the competition."

"I'm sorry you have to do that son. You came very close to having your project win First Place again this year. I remember you winning First at last year's competition."

"Thank you sir. Maybe next year will be better." Billy said.

"I hope so." Mr. Ballard replied and went back into the gym to continue with the judging. Billy, and Mr. Parsons went in as well. As Billy strolled around, looking at everyone else's projects, he then came to Cliff Harrison's table.

"Hey Billy, I heard about what happened to your project. Tough break man." Cliff said.

"Oh, thanks." Billy replied, still obviously glum. Then, he noticed something. Since looking at Cliff's project yesterday, he saw that it had been altered. Some of the parts looked exactly like they had come from his project. "I noticed you made some alterations to your project." Billy commented.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I was here earlier today, and I tested these out. I found that my project worked even better with these new pieces installed."

"I see. Because they look like parts from my project. I was cleaning up the mess, and I noticed some pieces were missing. I looked everywhere, but was unable to recover them. Not that I'm implying anything, but it just seems too weird that parts of my project go missing, then this happens."

"Are you accusing me of something?" Cliff hissed, his face inches away from Billy's.

"What? No. Why would I? It doesn't prove anything. It was just a coincidence, and I was just commenting on that, that's all." Billy replied.

"Alright then." Billy walked off, wondering why Cliff reacted the way he did. By then, the judging was finished, and Mr. Ballard announced that in the evening when the public came in to view the projects, they would announce the winners then.

That evening was when the parents, friends and other people came in to view the projects. Even though Mr. Cranston, Billy's dad, and all of Billy's friends knew what had happened, they came to the Youth Center anyway, to find out if anything had come up in finding out who wrecked Billy's project. Sarah was there too, especially. Just as they arrived, Mr. Ballard was already a the podium with the judges results. "Well, I know what you've all been waiting for, the results of the judging over the past day and a half." There was silence as everyone in the gym waited anxiously. "Our Third Place ribbon goes to... Evelyn Strong of Lakewood High!" There were a few cheers and whistles as she walked up to the podium to receive her ribbon. "Our Second Place ribbon goes to... Amandeep Chana of Sinclaire High!" More cheers went up as he went to receive his ribbon. "And now, our First Place winner, and the one who will move on the State Level is... Cliff Harrison, also of Lakewood High!" Not very many of the other competitors were very pleased with this result. Billy wished it was him that was up there instead of Cliff. As Cliff walked up rather haughtily to receive the blue ribbon, Ernie came up to the podium and whispered something to Mr. Ballard.. "Oh, alright then. Good work." He said, and told the other judges what Ernie told him. By then, Cliff was already up at the podium. But Mr. Ballard didn't hand him his ribbon. "What's going on?" Cliff asked.

"There's something we need you to see." Mr. Ballard told him. As they were leaving, he motioned for Billy and his dad to follow them. So did Sarah. She wanted to know what was going on as well. The rest of the participants and everyone else in the gym were left confused, and wondering what was happening. They were all talking amongst themselves.

"Maybe this has to do with the judge's results." Somebody said.

"I hope so. That Cliff guy? He's such a jerk."

"Hey, whatever happened to that Billy kid?" Another person asked.

"Maybe this has to do with him." Someone else replied.

"I think it has to do with that rumour about a vandalized project." said another participant.

"Cliff, this is our Fair Co-Ordinator, Mr. Parsons." Mr. Ballard said as they all came into Ernie's office.

"What is this all about?" Cliff asked.

"Well, I assume you heard about how Billy's project was vandalized last night. So we did some investigating, and we found something very interesting." Mr. Parsons said.

"Okay, so what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, Ernie had some video cameras installed recently, in key areas of the Youth Center, and last night, they picked up something we think you should see." Ernie then played the tape which was already in the VCR. In a hushed silence, everyone in the office watched as Cliff hopped over the Juice Bar counter and into the gym area, looking for Billy's project. As the tape still played, they could see Cliff pulling out the crowbar, smashing Billy's project, tearing up Billy's posters with the diagrams and notes, then retrieving the stolen pieces, which Cliff then later attached to his project, also caught on the tape in the scenes for the day after that night. Ernie stopped the tape. "You wish to explain this?" Mr. Parsons asked a stunned Cliff.

"Th-That's obviously an imposter! I'd never do such a thing!" He stammered.

"Don't try to make things worse by lying young man. The tape clearly shows that it's you who is responsible. Now what I'd like to know is why." Mr. Parsons said sternly.

"Yeah, Cliff." Billy said, getting in his face. "I'd like to know too."

"Alright, alright I'll tell you. Last year, First Place in the Regional Competition was supposed to go, to ME!" Cliff sneered.

"That's what this is all about? You did this, because you were mad about getting second place?"

"I should've been first, because I'm the one that's smarter! I'm older than you, which makes me smarter! Then I get beat out by a tenth grader!"

"I'll show you if age has anything to do with IQ!" Billy snapped and punched Cliff in the face. It was so hard that Cliff nearly fell, and his nose started to bleed. Before Billy could do anything else, Mr. Cranston grabbed his arm and pulled him back, with Sarah's help. Cliff was also restrained by Mr. Ballard.

"Well, in light of the evidence provided by the security tapes against you, Cliff Harrison, I hereby strip you of the your First Place rank, your project is disqualified, and I will see to it that you never compete in any future Science Fair should you go on to Post-Secondary. You are banned. That way, this will never happen again." They all left Ernie's office, leaving Cliff behind, stunned.

"Attention ladies and gentlemen, I have some news to report." Everyone in the gym quickly quieted up in order to hear what Mr. Parsons had to say. "No doubt you all heard what happened to William Cranston's project last night, and how it was vandalized. It turned out that Cliff Harrison was responsible for this, rather immature act. He has been stripped of his First Place rank. Therefore, Amandeep Chana, you will receive First Place, and will move on to the State Competition, representing Angel Grove, and it's surrounding suburbs. Congratulations." Mr. Parsons handed the blue ribbon to Amandeep, and took the red one. "Evelyn Strong, this makes you our second place winner." He replaced the white Third Place ribbon with the Second Place red ribbon. Everyone in the gym was cheering and clapping as Mr. Parsons looked at who was the first Honourable Mention on the judge's results. It got quiet again so that they could hear who it was that was now Third Place. "And this makes Kevin Connelly from Sunningdale High our Third Place winner!" The gym erupted in cheers as Kevin walked up to receive the Third Place ribbon. "Ladies and Gentlemen," Mr. Parsons spoke again once the cheering died down, "I'd like to apologize for this, sudden change of results, but we could not allow Cliff Harrison to represent ourregion because of this incident with William's project. Now, let's have another congratulations to our winners, and to all who participated. I look forward to seeing you all next year!" Once again, the whole room exploded with cheers.

The End


End file.
